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What The Hell? MSNBC Demotion of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews

For those of you who have been consistent readers, you all know I don’t have internet in my dorm room.

Arrrgh.

And I don’t have MSNBC.

Arrrrrgh.

Well, it seems as though the two main champions of liberalism from MSNBC named Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have been demoted from anchor positions during special coverage of events. I found the following except from an AP release from Yahoo!

The tipping point appears to have come during the GOP convention when Olbermann criticized MSNBC for showing a Sept. 11-themed video prepared by the Republicans.

MSNBC executives, who had publicly defended their anchors’ roles while privately monitoring them throughout the political season, made the change over the weekend after discussions with Olbermann. Despite the controversy around him, Olbermann has been a hero with left-leaning viewers and keyed MSNBC’s growth among coveted young viewers.

During her acceptance speech last week, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin talked about the “Washington elite” not accepting her qualifications for the job. Some delegates on the convention floor began chanting, “N-B-C, N-B-C.”

Olbermann began to have difficulty keeping his opinions in check, or simply stopped trying.

He sarcastically dismissed GOP pundit Pat Buchanan on the air after Buchanan said the Republicans had been enlivened by the entrance of a conservative Republican.

“Those reading US Weekly with the picture of her and her youngest daughter with the word `scandal’ written across it won’t be so happy,” Olbermann said.

He expressed little sympathy at another point when GOP anger at rumors over the Internet about Palin were being discussed.

“We’ll see if people feel sorry for unfounded rumors on the Internet,” he said. “If that’s the case, Senator Obama‘s probably standing up and cheering and waiting for people to feel sorry for him.”

Perhaps most embarrassing, Joe Scarborough was discussing positive developments in John McCain’s campaign at one point when Olbermann was heard on an offstage microphone saying: “Jesus, Joe, why don’t you get a shovel?”

Sorry, I thought this was so wonderfully written.

As I sit next to my friend, he informed me that clearly, “Liberals have a conscience. They aint made no changes at FoxNews?!!?!” And of course that echoes my sentiment exactly.

I watched, painfully, Sean Hannity interview Elisabeth “Miz Liz” Hasselbeck (nee Elisabeth DelPadre Filarski) of “The View” while at the Republican National Convention and she just went on and on about Governor Sarah “Yukon Barbie” Palin and I just couldn’t believe the level of ignorance that was displayed on both sides.

Well, one just has a high school diploma, so I’m quite sure where the majority of the ignorance was coming from, but the other was sho’ nuff giving him a run for his money.

Anywho…

Hannity and his ilk have heaped praises upon Sarah “Plain and Tall” Palin as though she’s the second coming, clearly setting her up to run in 2012 and Hannity has been quoted numerous times as saying “This is unprecedented media biased…” referring to Yukon Barbie.

Did Obama not have to give two seperate speeches explaining his relationship to Jeremiah God Damn America” Wright after FoxNews tried their damnest to discredit Obama?

I mean in the wider scheme of things, Olbermann and Matthews are no more outspoken than their diametrical opposites at FoxNews. Why is it that liberals are always caving in and succumbing to pressure from the Right and never “sticking it to” conservative thought? They don’t call us “bleeding heart” liberals for nothing–the conservatives are constantly stabbing us through the heart and we sit and ask “Why are you doing this to us?” The equivalent of bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Sadly, Olbermann, even more than Matthews to me, was what made MSNBC so interesting. He was no more outspoken with America’s favorite individual who wishes we could go back to the glory days of the 1920’s Pat “Let’s Take It Back” Buchanan than Hannity over Colmes or Bill-O over his guests.

Shame on MSNBC.

What do you think about liberal media paling in comparison to their condemnation of Sarah “I’m Hotter Than Tina Fey” Palin than they were with Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright and aiding in the questioning of Obama’s what they then called paper thin resume. Did MSNBC make a right move in demoting Olbermann and Matthews or is it going to come back and bite them in the collective liberal @$$?

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL

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Hey man — I think you got this one wrong. What it’s not is MSNBC caving to right wing complaints. What it is is Olbermann (particularly) and Matthews losing all pretense of objectivity. I’m a fan of Olbermann’s. Have been since his ESPN days, when he was an equal opportunity smart ass — he’d blast anyone, and usually be funny about it. But lately, though, he’s had some sort of sea-change. You can almost see the flecks of foam in the corners of his mouth when he talks about Bush. The humor has pretty much left him now. I’m sorry to see it happen.

Perhaps not necessarily caving into complaints, but I still believe that it’s a result of liberals taking an apologist view toward politics and conservatives acting as though they have a moral mandate.

Clearly, we don’t see FoxNews execs pulling Sean Hannity from anchoring. His viewpoints are far from being unbiased. I always felt that MSNBC balanced out Fox.

Fox News doesn’t “pull” Hannity because Hannity is not a news anchor. He is the host of a show. Whoever’s in charge of this awesome bring-down ought to turn their sights on Wolf Blitzer…but then, he has not been so terribly unkind to the Clintons, if ya know what I mean.

The anchor position that Olbermann and Matthews have are only anchors for the special events, such as the political conventions.

But, I think the reasons for the pull are just as equal. When the DNC finished with a speech and it happened to coincide with H&C, Hannity was giving equally bombastic speech during the DNC and was heaping high praises during the RNC–as far as the end result, it was the same.

Allen above was full of it when he said, “it’s not is MSNBC caving to right wing complaints. What it is is Olbermann (particularly) and Matthews losing all pretense of objectivity.

Olbermann & Matthews call a spade a spade. You can’t get any more objective than that. FoxNews folks like Hannity and O’Reilly are the most rabidly hostile and subjective anchors in broadcast news propaganda.

MSNBC buckled when they yanked the best team ever from the remaining live anchoring of this political campaign. Replacing him with Greg Whatshisname sends a powerful message to Americans that those of us with a conscience are not welcome in confronting bs in politics or the McCain-Palin ticket.

MSNBC really isn’t as liberal as it pretends to be anyway, or they wouldn’t run all those damn prison shows every night to brainwash Americans that lockdown is normal and acceptable, especially for black folks. They run hours of that shit every week, and it’s not balanced in the least with the positive things minorities are doing, and thus adds to the already distorted view of us.

Otherwise, Uppity, your post was well-written and his the bullseye. BTW, if you get this before 10PM tonight, you can see Olbermann interview Obama.

The Hannity interview with Elizabeth Hasselback was hilarious. He spent the whole time going “uh-huh…uh-huh” and not even reacting to anything she said. Dude looked like a nerdy high school kid who got to talk to the cheerleader and couldn’t stop staring.

As for Jeremiah Wright and Sarah Palin, I don’t know how you can compare the two. One is a lifelong associate who Obama tried to sweep under the rug, the other is a not-quite-experienced VP pick who is supposed to “energize” the far-right base. Like it or not, Palin hasn’t made any mistakes or said anything blatantly stupid yet. But with Wright, you had a whole archive of sermon footage to dig through, and he did say some very stupid things that worked well for cable news ratings when they were played in an incendiary loop for two weeks.

And it’s not liberals who are “caving in and succumbing to pressure from the Right,” it’s executives in suits who want to court the young demographic but get nervous when guys like Olbermann start saying things that don’t follow the script. Say this for Fox News…they don’t pull their anchors when things get a little crazy on-air. Remember Shephard Smith’s J-Lo blowjob comment? Haha. I don’t think Olbermann has the same kind of support behind him from his bosses.

Tis true. I don’t have MSNBC here in my dorm, but this summer at my internship I did watch it and you are exactly right.

I don’t even think its an issue of liberal vs conservative perhaps, but just the simple fact that MSM doesn’t know and hasn’t made the effort, to say the LEAST, to understand black culture on a real level.

And yes, that includes that piss poor Caring Negro Network presentation called Black In America.

@Plan

It seems as though you’ll be a frequent commenter! Yay! If you type in the same email address, I won’t have to ccome behind you and moderate the comment, it’ll post by itself.

But, I didn’t exactly mean to compare Wright to Palin, but rather I meant to compare Wright and Palin’s pastor of a Pentecostal church in Wasilla. And to compare the level of incendiary coverage with Palin and Obama concerning their faiths.

I think its quite clear Americans are willing to understand and buy into the mysticism of speaking in tongues before they’d understand race and politics from the pulpit.

Our friend Kit says that “Olbermann & Matthews call a spade a spade”. Sure they do. They call a spade a spade, as *they* see the spade. Anchors are supposed to be at least superficially objective. Leave the editorializing to the other commentators….

Now, Hannity is a partisan boob. And O’Reilly is a pompous ass. They are both intermittently entertaining. But they aren’t “anchors”, or, if they have been used as such they shouldn’t be.

I understand that you are upset about these changes. But, MSNBC is still your network. They got rid of Tucker C., snd shipped Joe Scarborough off to mornings. And now they’ve added that Rachel Maddow, in what must be one of the most bizarre programming decisions I’ve ever seen. Mark my words, Hannity will soon be only the 2nd least objective commentator on the cable news networks. Maddow will take the prize. I can only take consolation in that they’ve managed to make her look more like a woman than when she first started showing up for those snark-fests she and Olbermann have. All she needed then was a pack of smokes rolled up in the sleeve of her t-shirt and she would have looked like a refugee from the original cast of West Side Story.

Believe it or not, CNN is my poison of choice just tuning in to see Olbermann’s show. The fact that my dorm room doesn’t have MSNBC (and I’ll miss Maddow tonight) just further added to the fact that I’m more of a CNN head than MSNBC.

And yes, I think that’s a pretty decent analysis of the situation of the news hosts, but seeing as how we’ve long crossed the line in cable news politicks of hosts NOT speaking their opinion, especially because most of them were prolly hired TO speak their opinion, just let ’em go at it. Just as long as they don’t start cussing and throwing blows.

I am shocked, to read these ignorant people’s comments. Exept for the first comment from JLL, who obviously is educated vs the dim wits who followed. I really blame the Democratic Establishment, they have no GUTS. If they loose this election; it will be for this reason. Don’t tell me they can’ attack that pompass wanna be a MAN Sarah Palin because she is a woman. I am so sick of these weak minded women who want to play Hard Ball with men; but as soon as the going gets rough the “Poor Me” syndrome kicks in. Well get over it women it’s no longer a mans world, it’s all of ours. So stop playing the gender card, and suck it up. About now, you are beginning to sound like some black people who play the race card at the drop of a hat and when this happens, others who are truly victimized are unable to be recognized, so suck it up and get ready for a fight. I will be your Nightmare Doberman Pincher; if the Democrats don’t know how to handle you I will. You see Sarah I have delt with gals like you, thinking you are as good as or better than any guy, ” I shoot, I fish, I kick ass and take down any body that messes with me. Now! all of a sudden you want to be a damzel in distress? you are off limits to even the press? girl friend I am starting a movement for real women who believe that we are able to stand on our principles and do not need to be defended to win our cases. All you women who believe that Sarah is your Anne Frank wake up . This is a woman who has always voted against Equal pay for equal work, she doesn’t see you as you see her, hard working ,moral values mom with a family like her. She tried to sensure books in her state library and much more. If she is elected what will she try to sensure next. As for the Religeous Right, you will get what George Bush gave you aftetr helping to put him in office, Nothing, and made a fool of all of you . Wake up America. I will be starting a petition on behalf of Keith Olberman and Chris Mattews,by calling on theDemocrats to start calling all sponsers of their shows, to let them know we will boycon their products ’till this injustice is corrected. Any one who cares to join me please Email me immediately, to get this going.

uh- yeah marjorie smith, you sound like a really reasonable person. people like you should not give your opinions. everything you think is based on emotion. think of me when i cancel your vote in november, oh and uh, you go girl, i guess.

@ Allen, who said, “They call a spade a spade, as *they* see the spade.”

Olbermann and Matthews have better eyesight than you give them credit for. They see just fine, and if it walks and quacks like a duck, they say so. This is called objectivity. Why you want to tar and feather them is another matter…

kit, did you just mention objectivity? wow. msnbc? objectivity? y’all need some glasses. the only reason the chinese own this country is because the clinton’s had them sleeping in the lincoln betroom for 8 years. bill clinton dropped more bombs on more different countries than any other president in u.s. history. period. all unilaterally. get real. is bush a mumbling dumb moron like you say and think or is he the evil genius that’s just ruining the poor innocent entire world. make sense. and then make up your mind. stop thinking like you understand the nuances of foreign policy. you do not. certain things to keep you safe you needn’t know about. just sleep well. that’s not possible though. too busy worrying about things you can’t understand. always question authority, but use your head. try and be realistic. it’s a dangerous world, if you think not. please don’t vote.

Well, I see that Mr. Levin and Allen are the same person here. This won’t get you two votes on Nov. 4th. As for your offensive and politically wrong (not incorrect, just plain wrong) comments directed to me, you can keep them to yourself in the future.

Levin is not me, and I am not him. As for objectivity, there are apparently 3 different versions — Democratic, Republican, and Real. Olbermann and Matthews deal in the Democratic version, obviously, or else MSNBC wouldn’t have called them on the carpet. There is precious little Real Objectivity on display anywhere.

Perhaps you didn’t notice an earlier post, wherein I said I was a fan of Olbermann’s from his ESPN days. I’m still a fan, but he’s no longer a trustworthy political commentator. Matthews, on the other hand, has always annoyed the fool out of me. He’s loud and spastic all the time.

one day last year, i turned the channel and there was keith olbermann. he was intelligent, snarky, cute and clearly a liberal. i fell in love. i for one am appalled that he and chris matthews will not be covering the election. oh god, i loved their coverage! one can go anywhere and hear the right sucking bush administration ass. the republicans own all forms of media, television, radio and print. but you can only go to msnbc to get the progressive point of view. name one newspaper that didn’t support the iraq war, or a news channel or a radio commentator that wasn’t swallowing white house propaganda and spitting it up for us to eat. i for one enjoy all the snipeing between the msnbc commentators. it reminds me of any debate around my family’s dining room table. it’s hard to not start yelling at friends and family when talking politics or anything else one cares deeply about.
david gregory. i spit at him. i can’t forget the footage of him dancing with “m.c. rove” at the correspondents dinner. m.c. rove, the same man who helped keep a democrat out of the white house for 8 years. every time i see him i get a flashback to that monstrous event. one should not be too chummy with those one is covering for a media outlet. this is an important election. i’m sure the consequences of barack obama not becoming our president weighs heavily on their minds. chris matthews is always way too excited about everything so,there’s always a chance he’ll start screaming. keith too is an excitable boy (ever watch him talk about sports?) who knows what will happen if mccain wins. that thought makes me want to shriek like kevin mccarthy in the “invasion of the body snatchers”
so cut the guys some slack. isn’t it nice to have some left wing bias? don’t get your knickers in a twist, let ’em bicker.